Just met with Caroline Erb, the "writing fellow" for the media department. I set up a meeting with her last week, giving her an entire week to look through my paper but as usual at Hunter, any type of student services sucks. I got to her office and had to wait a good twenty minutes for her to finish the last like 10 pages of my paper and am pretty nervous about what she said when she finished reading it. There was a lot of "ummm.." and bla bla trying to be gentle type rhetoric. Shes not a film/horror person whatsoever, so she had no clue about the movies I talk about in my thesis or the political significance. She basically told me that I don't have a strong enough connection with my movies and my thesis and that I do too much describing of scenes. This is kind of funny because Pinedo told me to flesh out my scene analysis... at the end of our meeting she started saying things like, "Well I don't think shes going to fail you... if she said it was okay then it must be fine." At this point I'm thinking...ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! This is a 25 page paper that I've been working on the whole semester! I'm starting to freak out about this a little bit now, as I still plan on using this paper as a writing sample for grad school. Obviously something is missing in my paper if shes having trouble connecting my thesis throughout the paper. I'm now waiting outside of Pinedo's office in a panic to speak to her about this whole situation. I don't know if I should blow off what this lady is saying and stick with what Pinedo has told me or take the critique to heart. Last semester for my horror class I met with her in regard to my term paper on Irreversible because it was mandatory and did not take any of her advice at all and still got an A. I don't exactly understand why someone who isn't a film person is attempting to help film/media students. Seems kind of dumb. If you don't know what you're talking about you probably shouldn't be advising students on things that are important!
UGHHH!
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Edits, edits, edits
So at this point I’m basically wrapping up my thesis. Sent final draft to Caroline Erb, the writing fellow at Hunter, for some feedback and comments. I’m horrible with grammar so I’m sure theres a ton of spelling errors that I missed while editing the final draft. I’m still trying to track down a book for my cult of individualism reference, but I plan to scurry for that today during my break. I’m also having a hard time finding last minute quotes for my paper. A lot of people claim that these movies of the New French Extremity “go too far,” but unfortunately I’m having trouble finding a quote of someone legit actually saying that. Most of the IMDB user comments don’t actually say that, but just talk about how bloody and gross the movies are, which is I guess in some ways saying goes too far, but I want something better. There’s only so many crappy articles one can read before everything gets fuzzy. Excited to be wrapping this up though, the semester is almost over and that went by way too fast. All I really have left to do is find a few good quotes and add screen grabs and then finito. If anyone comes across anything please let me know.
P.S. The guy sitting next to me on the train won’t stop farting. How rude right? A train is a contained vehicle! Do that stuff before getting on the train!
P.S.S. Going to miss this class when it ends in a few weeks, our little round table discussions keep school exciting and I met a lot of nice, interesting people here.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Draft #2
So over Spring Break I submitted draft #2 of my honors thesis to Professor Pinedo. I was a little nervous at first, as always, thinking that the second draft probably still needed a lot of work. After editing everything, I got my feedback from Professor Pinedo and she thinks the paper is turning out well and is practically done. Of course, after she said this to me, I finished reading the book Brutal Intimacy by Tim Palmer, a book which is also about New French Extremism. Most of the book was a lot of crap, and only looks at the works of the big name directors, but there was one page that referenced the four movies I'm looking at. It turned out to be decently useful, as a decent amount of what he was saying directly supports my thesis. My paper elaborates on the nasty movies he didn't want to touch. Also, I had e-mailed an author of one of my Rue Morgue articles in regard to a source he used, he e-mailed me back a few days ago. This leaves me in a pretty good spot, I can add a few more pages to the paper and clarify some of my vague parts. Starting to get nervous about this semester ending and having to enter the realm of Grad school, but am very excited at the same time and still have fingers crossed for NYU.
Pinedo said I should check out a few other schools, so I started doing more research for out of school colleges. I looked at U Texas and U Wisconsin... still don't want to go out of state but their programs seem pretty cool. I know this seems lame but I really don't want to leave my boyfriend or friends behind!
On a less serious note, after class today I spoke to Pinedo quickly about my thesis and the movie Insidious came up (I was telling her how awesome it was). When I started telling her about the weird things that have happened to me at my house over the past year (including knocks on my door while no one was home, someone caressing my head, and beer caps flying off of my Miller Light can in my basement) she seemed really interested and said she was going to give her friend who is a psychic my contact info. Not sure I want to know whats calling out to me at my home-- but pretty interesting to say the least.
P.S...Still whoring out my thesis for anyone who wants to take a look and give feedback.
Pinedo said I should check out a few other schools, so I started doing more research for out of school colleges. I looked at U Texas and U Wisconsin... still don't want to go out of state but their programs seem pretty cool. I know this seems lame but I really don't want to leave my boyfriend or friends behind!
On a less serious note, after class today I spoke to Pinedo quickly about my thesis and the movie Insidious came up (I was telling her how awesome it was). When I started telling her about the weird things that have happened to me at my house over the past year (including knocks on my door while no one was home, someone caressing my head, and beer caps flying off of my Miller Light can in my basement) she seemed really interested and said she was going to give her friend who is a psychic my contact info. Not sure I want to know whats calling out to me at my home-- but pretty interesting to say the least.
P.S...Still whoring out my thesis for anyone who wants to take a look and give feedback.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
A bit overwhelmed...
So I haven't gotten a chance to start making revisions on my thesis. I have had a ton of school work to do (including the massive amounts of reading for this class) and everything is kind of just catching up to me at once. My spring break is probably going to be dedicated to working on this paper because the next time I meed with Pinedo is right after Spring Break. I'm also waiting to get a book I ordered on the New French Extremity called "Brutal Intimacy" by Tim Palmer, should be in soon.
On a funnier note, my friends and I usually go to this bar near me called Guys and Dolls. The owner of the bar is a professor at (I forgot the college) but hes written a few books and teaches English. A little while ago, after having a few beers I told him how I'm trying to get into NYU and he offered to take a look at my thesis/ admissions stuff for NYU. I hadn't spoken to him about it for a few months until Friday night when he saw me and told me that I scare him because I'm smarter than him. He then went on to tell me that he is a psychic, and that in the next three months things are going to pick up for me and turn out really well. A good sign or drunken rambling? I guess we'll see.
On a funnier note, my friends and I usually go to this bar near me called Guys and Dolls. The owner of the bar is a professor at (I forgot the college) but hes written a few books and teaches English. A little while ago, after having a few beers I told him how I'm trying to get into NYU and he offered to take a look at my thesis/ admissions stuff for NYU. I hadn't spoken to him about it for a few months until Friday night when he saw me and told me that I scare him because I'm smarter than him. He then went on to tell me that he is a psychic, and that in the next three months things are going to pick up for me and turn out really well. A good sign or drunken rambling? I guess we'll see.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
The meeting
First off, I'd like to talk about Black Swan briefly because I just saw it. I was totally disappointed by this movie and thought it was way too hyped up. Although I agree that all of the actors in the film were amazing, the specially effects were lacking and the plot was kind of slow overall. I thought the movie was good... but not as good as Inception (which I still think should have won Best Picture). The only thing that I did really enjoy about Black Swan was Vincent Cassel's performance. Hes so hideous and disgusting, but for some reason he charmed the hell out of me in the movie.
It's kind of hard trying to juggle school, a full time job and a personal life all at once, but I try and do my best... I see movies and TV as somewhat educational because in some ways its relevant to what I'm studying (and also a really good excuse to relax and drink a few beers).
Anyway, so last Wednesday I met with Professor Pinedo. I was really really nervous going into the meeting and assumed that she was probably going to rip me apart. To my surprise she actually had a lot of good feedback and suggestions for the paper and school in general. The thesis needs some material added and obviously some things edited out, but she told be to basically just write down everything now and we can edit a lot of things out later if need be because its much easier to edit things out then force things in. The best advice that she gave me though pertained to NYU's PhD program. She told me I should apply to other, possibly even better schools to make my application more competitive, so that schools want me, rather than me seeming desperate to get into NYU (even though I am and don't want to leave New York). It makes a lot of sense and I was told by Larry Shore (even though I hate him because hes for the most part an angry old man who gives useless knowledge and enjoys complicating the graduation process), told me that with my grades I could probably get a really good scholarship at some of the schools outside of New York. We'll cross that bridge when we get there... my parents and boyfriend were not too thrilled about the idea of out of state and I'm pretty comfortable in my own little suburban hell at this point.
Pinedo also told me that when I graduate Hunter I should try and take a graduate class at the CUNY graduate center or even possibly NYU if they allow non-matrics to take classes and that I should try and get a letter of rec from a Graduate professor because it would make it look like I'm more prepared to skip a master's program and go straight to PhD. Once again makes a lot of sense and was extremely enlightening.
Lastly, when I asked her about New School if I don't get into NYU, Pinedo told me that basically the school is a big waste of money with horrible staff and that students have a hard time graduating from there because it is too lenient.
All in all, it was a great meeting with her. I enjoy talking to Pinedo in general, shes just a brilliant woman and I am so greatful that she took me under her wing a bit and has pushed me to keep writing and get my stuff out there. I have never met a professor like her and don't know if I ever will after Hunter.
Anyway, my next draft is due the day after Spring Break. It should be much easier this time to edit the paper and am actually kind of excited to keep working on it now. I desperately needed the fresh insight provided by Pinedo.
P.S. If anyone wants to read my thesis let me know... most of my friends are not really the scholarly type and my family and boyfriend keep telling me that they are going to read my things but never wind up actually reading them. Any criticism/insight would be appreciated.
It's kind of hard trying to juggle school, a full time job and a personal life all at once, but I try and do my best... I see movies and TV as somewhat educational because in some ways its relevant to what I'm studying (and also a really good excuse to relax and drink a few beers).
Anyway, so last Wednesday I met with Professor Pinedo. I was really really nervous going into the meeting and assumed that she was probably going to rip me apart. To my surprise she actually had a lot of good feedback and suggestions for the paper and school in general. The thesis needs some material added and obviously some things edited out, but she told be to basically just write down everything now and we can edit a lot of things out later if need be because its much easier to edit things out then force things in. The best advice that she gave me though pertained to NYU's PhD program. She told me I should apply to other, possibly even better schools to make my application more competitive, so that schools want me, rather than me seeming desperate to get into NYU (even though I am and don't want to leave New York). It makes a lot of sense and I was told by Larry Shore (even though I hate him because hes for the most part an angry old man who gives useless knowledge and enjoys complicating the graduation process), told me that with my grades I could probably get a really good scholarship at some of the schools outside of New York. We'll cross that bridge when we get there... my parents and boyfriend were not too thrilled about the idea of out of state and I'm pretty comfortable in my own little suburban hell at this point.
Pinedo also told me that when I graduate Hunter I should try and take a graduate class at the CUNY graduate center or even possibly NYU if they allow non-matrics to take classes and that I should try and get a letter of rec from a Graduate professor because it would make it look like I'm more prepared to skip a master's program and go straight to PhD. Once again makes a lot of sense and was extremely enlightening.
Lastly, when I asked her about New School if I don't get into NYU, Pinedo told me that basically the school is a big waste of money with horrible staff and that students have a hard time graduating from there because it is too lenient.
All in all, it was a great meeting with her. I enjoy talking to Pinedo in general, shes just a brilliant woman and I am so greatful that she took me under her wing a bit and has pushed me to keep writing and get my stuff out there. I have never met a professor like her and don't know if I ever will after Hunter.
Anyway, my next draft is due the day after Spring Break. It should be much easier this time to edit the paper and am actually kind of excited to keep working on it now. I desperately needed the fresh insight provided by Pinedo.
P.S. If anyone wants to read my thesis let me know... most of my friends are not really the scholarly type and my family and boyfriend keep telling me that they are going to read my things but never wind up actually reading them. Any criticism/insight would be appreciated.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Draft #1
Sorry this blog came so late, got caught up doing a paper for another class and things kind of slipped my mind. Anyway, here's where I'm at.
So last week Pinedo pushed our meeting back so she could fully get through my paper. During the middle of the week I got an email with comments on my paper and some thoughts about what still needs to be put into it. I suspected that I would get most of the comments that she gave me, which range from needing a better transition between paragraphs and wording things awkwardly (I was ready to shoot myself while getting through that first draft so after a while everything became a jumble). Also, I could use better sources, which is where I come into a bit of a problem. Most of my film sources come from Rue Morgue, a horror movie magazine. Pinedo commented that more sources might be needed and I agree, it would be extremely useful to get some scholarly pieces into the paper, however, there hasn't been much written on the films I'm looking at (which is why I'm looking at them...) I guess I'll figure something out.
Also, something else which scared me is that when I got the paper back with comments through e-mail, the format was changed to single spacing, which made it only 11 pages. I REALLLYYY hope that the paper doesn't have to be in single spacing because that would mean rather than adding an additional 5-10 pages, I'd have to add an additional 10-20. Psh. Fingers crossed on that one.
Some of the major things I still need to add in the paper are the movies perception in America and France and how High Tension brought French Horror into the American mainstream (I put that in my outline I just couldn't place it correctly in my draft). I can work out placing High Tension into my paper with little difficulty, but once again as Pinedo pointed out, since I'm not fluent in French it's going to be kind of hard to find reviews and statistics. I'm trying to learn French right now through the Rosetta Stone I got for Christmas (My only gift because it was so absurdly expensive) but I had to kind of put my Rosetta Stone lessons on hold due to school picking up and working full time. If anyone knows any sources for finding out how much profit these films grossed domestically it would be greatly appreciated.
Anyway, I meet with Pinedo today and am pretty sure its going to be kind of rough. Tough love kids. Tough love.
So last week Pinedo pushed our meeting back so she could fully get through my paper. During the middle of the week I got an email with comments on my paper and some thoughts about what still needs to be put into it. I suspected that I would get most of the comments that she gave me, which range from needing a better transition between paragraphs and wording things awkwardly (I was ready to shoot myself while getting through that first draft so after a while everything became a jumble). Also, I could use better sources, which is where I come into a bit of a problem. Most of my film sources come from Rue Morgue, a horror movie magazine. Pinedo commented that more sources might be needed and I agree, it would be extremely useful to get some scholarly pieces into the paper, however, there hasn't been much written on the films I'm looking at (which is why I'm looking at them...) I guess I'll figure something out.
Also, something else which scared me is that when I got the paper back with comments through e-mail, the format was changed to single spacing, which made it only 11 pages. I REALLLYYY hope that the paper doesn't have to be in single spacing because that would mean rather than adding an additional 5-10 pages, I'd have to add an additional 10-20. Psh. Fingers crossed on that one.
Some of the major things I still need to add in the paper are the movies perception in America and France and how High Tension brought French Horror into the American mainstream (I put that in my outline I just couldn't place it correctly in my draft). I can work out placing High Tension into my paper with little difficulty, but once again as Pinedo pointed out, since I'm not fluent in French it's going to be kind of hard to find reviews and statistics. I'm trying to learn French right now through the Rosetta Stone I got for Christmas (My only gift because it was so absurdly expensive) but I had to kind of put my Rosetta Stone lessons on hold due to school picking up and working full time. If anyone knows any sources for finding out how much profit these films grossed domestically it would be greatly appreciated.
Anyway, I meet with Pinedo today and am pretty sure its going to be kind of rough. Tough love kids. Tough love.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
What's this all about?
As most of you are probably in my Intro to publishing class, and therefore already know what this blog is about I apologize for being repetitive. For anyone else who stumbles upon my blog, I am to use this blog to motivate me and keep me on point to help me finish the honor's thesis I am currently working on, with hopes of publishing this research paper and eventually using it as a thesis to apply for NYU's PhD program. My research paper explores the connection between the 2005 riots in the French suburbs and connects them to the increase of violent French horror movies since the riots. I have researched demographic statistics, public policy in France and news accounts of the events that took place before and during the 2005 riots and have found that there is a history of racial tension in France between the white elites and individuals of French suburbs who are mainly of North African descent. The movies I am connecting the riots to are Frontier(s), Inside, and Martyrs, all of which either directly show footage from the 2005 riots, or have a deep political statement.
Over the last three days I have spent over 24 hours working on this paper and completing a first draft. I want to push myself further and really make something great out of this but am having some technical problems in connecting the statistical information about the riots and transitioning it into the film analysis in my paper. I keep re-writing the same sections over and over again and it is extremely frustrating. I meet with Professor Pinedo on Wednesday and am hoping to get some suggestions and feedback from her. I currently have 21 pages done of this research paper and plan to extend it to at least 25 pages. Although I am excited that I finished my first draft, I am worried that what I am doing is not going to be good enough to get me published/ into NYU. I need to make this AMAZING to have even a chance of getting in.
Over the last three days I have spent over 24 hours working on this paper and completing a first draft. I want to push myself further and really make something great out of this but am having some technical problems in connecting the statistical information about the riots and transitioning it into the film analysis in my paper. I keep re-writing the same sections over and over again and it is extremely frustrating. I meet with Professor Pinedo on Wednesday and am hoping to get some suggestions and feedback from her. I currently have 21 pages done of this research paper and plan to extend it to at least 25 pages. Although I am excited that I finished my first draft, I am worried that what I am doing is not going to be good enough to get me published/ into NYU. I need to make this AMAZING to have even a chance of getting in.
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